


Merry Christmas - From Death

by straightouttapopstar



Category: Hoshi no Kaabii | Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby (Video Games), Kirby - All Media Types
Genre: (literally), Angst, Christmas Time, Death, Gay Stuff, I think this is actually suicide too oops, I'm here to bring tears and feels, M/M, Sadness, Unacceptance, but it's a nice partnership, dancing with Death under pale moonlight, don't expect a load of fluff on me in such a merry season
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 05:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8956339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straightouttapopstar/pseuds/straightouttapopstar
Summary: -"I... um, how about a date?"It was the most stressing question I had ever asked. The response felt even more stressing."yeah ofc sure just where'dyou wanna go??""The park. I think...the park would be a good location."I thought he'd think I'm desperate. He sounded so cool, so nonchalant, so inert about life. He was there every second and whenever I needed him. We had been texting for three painful months which I somehow survived without seeing him once - it was time for change.-





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> A quite rusty and two part fic written for my friend as a Christmas present!!  
> Please enjoy （＾∇＾）

Do you ever try to imagine your first date? I mean, for some people it may seem like a very distant thought - perhaps you aren't old enough, aren't interested in relationships, etcetera. But for all of us who do think about that one little event which will set us up...do you ever imagine how it'll all be?  
Since I had been a child, I had an obvious pull towards the same gender - and whether that was tolerated by my family or not, I couldn't care less. I had been shunned, dismissed by everyone during my childhood. My parents tried to accept me but just couldn't bring themselves to do it - my teachers and tutors growled at me whenever I dared to enter a class for a lesson - and my peers ignored me for the most ridiculous reasons possible. They started blaming me for fights, robberies, violating the school's property, and of course everyone went along with the wolf like mindless white sheep to slaughter.   
"Green guy, my pencil was here two seconds ago - where is it now?!"  
"Ya freak, you beat up my boyfriend! Miss, that stupid freak fighted with my poor boyfriend!"  
"Of course it wasn't me, Sir! The freak followed us to the back of the building with a graffiti can and did the work all on his own!"  
That period of time was spent between awkward and quiet mealtimes at home, crying myself to sleep an hour before I was supposed to wake up for school, wearing a permanent frown during each of my lessons and taking refuge in counselling. Not that I needed it - everyone pushed me into it because they weren't bothered enough to sacrifice thought to understand me. I was an impossible algebraic equation to a very lazy student - I required effort to decipher and none of them felt the need of putting that effort in. And so I had been left in a counselling session every few weeks - the same questions had been repeated every time, and the same answers were heard. It's like every meeting was a scheduled performance I was supposed to play.  
"How are you feeling?"  
"Fine."  
Scribble scribble.  
"Any problems you'd like to speak about?"  
"No."  
Cross out, rub out, scribble.  
"Do you like your school?"  
"Yes."  
Silent thoughts.  
"Alright, but if you'll have a problem, you'll tell me, right? You know you can trust me?"  
I had no other word at the tip of my tongue other than a quiet and affirmative 'Yes'.  
"Okay! I'm really glad everything is okay. See you next week, Escargon! Stay strong."  
It was a constant loop. I hated these repetitive meetings, but they were much better than dull times spent in a classroom, enveloped in a mist of hatred and contempt.   
I looked back at my modest home, shrouded in darkness behind me as my thin shoes crunched in the numbing snow. My coat hadn't been suited for winter, instead being a leftover present from my deceased aunt a few years ago - it was a summer waterproof coat which had sleeves up to the elbows, leaving the rest of my bony hands to surrender to the biting weather. There was no central heating in my house either - I was huddled in pillow forts made out of cheap fluff and layers of used up heart-shaped bubble-wrap every single day. Unemployed and barely able to afford gas and electricity out of emergency funds from odd jobs, I was really looking for alleviation from this situation.  
But none arrived.  
With my struggling hands, I reached into the pocket of my overcoat, slowly dragging out a very damaged Nokia. Love was not something I should be looking for, I thought regrettably to myself. However, to Hell with my needs. Deep inside, I needed someone who could cheer me up in this sad time of year.  
As I tried to traverse the deep pits of snow, I saw other households. They weren't like mine - cold and alien and unfeeling. They were crowded, cheery, very very warm. I just wanted to sit by the walls of those houses and soak up the warmth I required so much. I saw children jumping from one corner of their room to the other, playing with their newfound toys under the Christmas tree. Their parents looked at them with such affection, care, everything I never had. A tear escaped my eye as I sped up my step in fear of freezing and began to fiddle with my phone. I could barely click anything on the screen, since my fingers had been shaking so much I barely had control of them.  
I looked at my digital calendar. 25th December. Christmas. Under the date there was a small log labelled 'It's Christmas! Cheer up Escargon, it's not so bad!"  
I weeped as I crossed the secluded street, my lonely soul travelling through the town's labyrinthian lanes in a daze. Everyone was at home, enjoying their time with family, friends, everyone they cherished more than themselves in this whole world. There was no one on a zebra crossing, walking past the lampposts in a hurry or driving a car past me.  
Total silence.  
I read our last conversation together, completely forgetting about the whole world.  
"I... um, how about a date?"  
It was the most stressing question I had ever asked. The response felt even more stressing.  
"yeah ofc sure just where'dyou wanna go??"  
"The park. I think...the park would be a good location."  
I thought he'd think I'm desperate. He sounded so cool, so nonchalant, so inert about life. He was there every second and whenever I needed him. We had been texting for three painful months which I somehow survived without seeing him once - it was time for change.   
"D-Dedede?"  
"... yeah id say the park'd be a good spot, s'fine"  
At that moment, I sighed in relief. I had a date. I had an actual date with someone who I may have had a chance with. Someone who would find something within me that'd be worthy of their time. Someone who I could gift with my love. Someone who'd like me for who I am.  
I set foot in the gloomy park. The trees had always been so extremely dense over here. You could see nothing but a half-done pavement and fifty kinds of trees you wouldn't be able to name unless you were a plant biology major. I followed the aforementioned pavement for seconds, minutes, hours, all the while not trying to sink in the devouring snow, until I came to a clearing. In the middle of that clearing was a single black park bench and a lamppost wedged right next to it. However, there had already been someone occupying that bench, and it wasn't someone ordinary. The figure looked like a reverberating piece of dark matter after an impact of an earthquake. I didn't know whether they were looking wavy in front of my tired and foggy eyes but I meekly continued on, collapsing through the snow until I couldn't walk anymore. Luckily, I was right next to the bench, so I climbed on top of it anyway. I had no idea whether the man sitting next to me had noticed someone overtaking half of the bench, but it didn't really seem like he cared until he completely turned towards me. If that man, wearing an ominous black overcoat and carrying a sharp, black tool with him was about to attack me, then I had no possibility of defending myself.  
His manic grin widened and he whispered hypnotically to me.  
"Escargon~?"  
I shivered in response and immediately looked at the handsome stranger.  
"H-How do you-- wait, are you...are you the Dedede I have been texting with?"  
A laugh that frightened all the birds from the trees rung through the forest. It undoubtedly belonged to the man who had been sitting just an inch from me, our hands almost touching.  
"Yes."  
"But... you seemed so... so in-nocent, s-so friendly..."  
"So just because I have an untamed desire for bloodshed and agony means that I can't be kind? You have some lessons to learn..."  
He was becoming more frightening every single second. The Dedede I had known, confided in, he wasn't like that... but when did I ever listen to internet safety lessons at school?  
I shuffled discreetly towards the very edge of the bench, ready to flee and fall if an assault was due from the person who was observing my movements with a close eye.  
"W-We had been t-texting to each other for so long... I wanted to meet y-you."  
I shook in the midst of the freezing wind, hugging my coat close to my body in a desperate pursuit of comfort. Dedede didn't seem bothered by my confession, so I decided to step it up. He thought this was a joke.  
"I love you."  
Suddenly, the bells in his head must have rung a very rusty and loud 'Here Comes The Bride' because in seconds I had been tackled to the ground. I didn't defend myself from the impact of falling onto the chilling snow, and instead just closed my eyes and prepared to be attacked with that sharp tool of his. Like my mother said, nothing useful would grow out of me and all I deserved was to sadly perish in a place where no one could find me.  
But the attack never came. With its wish came a striking cold to my lips - which were Dedede's lips, I assumed, and I opened my eyes to see Dedede's eyes right opposite of mine. I decided against protesting but Dedede pulled himself away from me before I could even taste the sweetness of his breath. He lay on the snow, looking at his own hands in shock and slowly crawling away from me in bewilderment.  
"D-Did I do something wrong?"  
"No!"  
"Then w-what's wrong?"  
"I... I can't kiss you, I'm afraid."  
It was the largest shock of my life. Why was this happening? I knew I didn't deserve anyone's feelings and should have killed myself with the first chance I had. I started to scramble to my own feet, much to the shaken Dedede's surprise.  
"Where are you going?!"  
"Somewhere warm."  
"NO!"  
His response made me face him still. The cold wind enveloped the silence between us in a familiar hug.  
"Then w-why can't you kiss me!?"  
"It's complicated!"  
"What is complicated!?"  
"Look, I'm Death."  
"..."  
"No, I am THE Death. The one you're told about in old legends and folk tales. I am the grim reaper who takes away..lives."  
I eyed his clothing and tool in bewilderment, and it all finally made sense. He was wearing black, the colour that symbolised suffering and darkness. His tool was the scythe, the legendary weapon that Death always carried in every tale that was told through generations. It was rather large and threatening. He sadly noticed my deep analysis of everything about him, but I promptly shrugged my arms.  
"So what if y-you're Death? I still l-love you, Dedede. I want to be with you."  
"You don't understand! If I kiss you, I will take your breath away. Literally! I'll absorb your life and you will no longer possess a beating heart!"  
Well, that was a larger predicament. Upon hearing his words, I looked behind me and saw a clump of trees gathered together. They were blocking my access to the town, and all sight of the pavement leading out of the forest had disappeared without a trace.  
I could have gone right then - I could have rejected Death, ran away into the freezing forest and probably died of loss of heat. Or I could have departed too, but in a much better way - with the person I love most in my whole life.  
I didn't wait for his opinion, his response, his reply, but I dashed towards him and made our lips connect.  
I could taste his shock on his tongue - he didn't expect me to run to him. He thought I would abandon him, leave him just because I had been afraid of Death. But I was never a child who had cowered in front of the harsh reality. I hugged his person using my legs and knees, positioning myself on top of his cross-legged form. I wanted him, I loved him. These were the words that were chanted like a religious rhyme in my head, over and over again. I wanted him to take my life in return for his feelings. It would have been my first kiss, but also my last.  
Suddenly, he pulled away and looked straight into my eyes.  
"Are you sure?"  
The night had been dark. The stars were already out, and right now relatives would have been getting ready to leave their extended families' houses in the aim of getting back to their own. No steps or crunching snow had been heard, shrouding the night in deep silence. Dedede looked especially breathtaking, the tears running down his cheeks were like the most precious of shooting stars which had fallen just for me.  
"Yes."  
It only took me a moment which lasted an eternity to enjoy my first kiss. I felt my head become lighter, as did my whole body, and I was no longer limited to sitting on the wet ground. My soul rose within my chest, and I could not feel the cold anymore however much I tried. I dropped my coat, my shoes and my phone onto the ground and soared up, just as the lightbeam-weeping sun had arisen on the horizon.  
I was finally at peace with the person I loved most.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is the end.  
> ...or is it?

Tick.  
The clock on the wall counted the seconds left until I'd fall asleep. The dull, metronome-like sound of the battery-powered mechanism cluttered my thoughts, hypnotising my head into bopping along monotonically.  
Once I saw a single foot appear at the corner of the hall, I stood up to see him come towards me with a smile.  
"So, the plan is this. I had been talking with Satan" - Dedede instantly stopped talking the minute he saw my grin turn to a horrified frown. He easily laid a cold hand on top of my shoulder in comfort.  
"We're friends. It's fine. So Satan said that, since we are, um, so, y'know, close with each other, he... you can be my partner in crime."  
This was the most shocking but exciting decision I had ever made in my lifetime. I'd become a helper, but not just an ordinary helper - I'd become an ally of Death himself, however handsome he is.  
"I... I am absolutely honoured."  
"Eh, s'fine, I guess Satty's a bit miffed about welcoming you here, but it's my choice. I want you to be by my side wherever I go."  
I looked up at him with my enormously shocked eyes as a second scythe materialised out of thin air in a cloud of smoke and fell into Dedede's hands. He promptly handed it to me with a grin.  
"Here's your work tool. Use it wisely. Don't lose it - they're expensive."  
I giggled at his funny attitude to this traumatic job.  
"So you're telling me that you work under Mr. Satan himself and you can't afford a scythe? Tut tut, I wonder who manages all your funds..."  
"H-Hey!" - an unexpected blush broke out on his cheeks as he stood up on his tiptoes, trying to appear more menacing but looking more like a killer teddy bear. "I do the funds around here! You have a problem with me?"  
I slowly stepped towards him in an alluring way, boldly swishing my scythe from left to right until I was so close to him I could hear his eyes turning and darting everywhere but at me. I laid a brave finger upon his lips, which forced him to go red even more. This would become a very effective blackmail tool in the future.  
"No, I do not have a problem. Actually, you're not that bad at this business."  
Feigning anger but keeping his face contradictorily scarlet, he pushed my hand away from himself and turned away from me in annoyance.  
"I thought so! You can't just order me around like that. I'm Death."  
I laughed softly at him, which made him shiver in response.  
"And I am the dapper Death's partner."  
This occupation turned out to be the most difficult thing I would ever be involved in during my afterlife.  
Dedede decided to throw me right onto the field - after he came to terms with the fact that I was able to embarrass him so easily, in punishment, he sent me right into a human home. He didn't bother knocking, and just walked right through the solid oak door like it was nothing. I traced his movements, feeling relief when stepping through the door didn't cause a collision. We sneaked right inside the art deco living room - the walls had been adorned with legendary paintings that had imprinted themselves within my memory during those dull art lessons from my childhood. I used to be so bored by the colour theory, I just used my eyes to trace every gentle line and imagine the brushes stroking the canvas like a fluffy animal.  
Dedede noticed me staring at one of the paintings and eyeing each and every single line - I saw him gradually smiling out of the corner of my eye.  
"Are you staring at me?"  
Suddenly, he shot off into an another room like Cupid's Arrow and I giggled softly into my hand to mute the noise. He was such a goof when he became embarrassed.  
A while later, when he returned, he decided that it was time for me to take one of my first people away.  
"The point is, you're gonna take this old lady to where she belongs."  
When he pronounced every little word of that sentence, I didn't realise what he meant until he finished it. I fell back onto an armchair, clutching my head in a worrying panic - I was about to kill my first victim. I was supposed to tell her that today is...her time to leave. That it's all over for her.  
Once I opened my eyes, I saw Dedede standing over me comfortingly, trying to lower himself to his knees and envelope me in some sort of a half-hug. His cold skin didn't matter against my own - it was the feeling that caught me off the most.  
"Hey, y'can do it. It's not that bad. C'mon, people just gotta deal with death and move on--"  
"But Dedede..." - I choked out in sadness, stopping him in his tracks - "I am about to...murder someone. Take them away from their home, life... God, I can't deal with this."  
Instantly, he caught my hand that was resting on the armchair and rapidly pulled me up into a standing position. He pat my shoulder extremely gently in affirmation and adjusted my black cloak, which was a miniature version of the same cloak he had been wearing. Then, his scythe appeared in his hands in a cloud of dust once again and he decided to begin the training.  
"First, ya kinda have to inform the human that they're dying. It's kinda like giving an extension for an assignment when you're an especially merciful teacher. You have to get their attention first, ask whether they want to go, and if not then just tell them that they have a small bit left to say bye, cheers and ahoy to their family. That's it."  
By the time his explanation had finished, I had felt completely confused and distracted but I nodded seriously nonetheless, the grip around my scythe tightening in fear.  
"So, to get the attention of a human, you have to wave your scythe like...this!"  
He proceeded to manoeuvre his tool in unimaginable ways - first it somehow shot off to the right side of the room, then to the left, suddenly it appeared behind him and even disappeared into this stretchy sleeves before returning into his hard grip. As a final move, he lifted a scythe and waved it from left to right, then returned it to its rightful position of touching the floor. I had been absolutely amazed at his skills and skeptical of how I was going to do it.  
So I started to hurl my tool around too, but it all turned into complete disaster; suddenly, it flew to the completely wrong part of the room and hit an ancient china vase with unimaginable force, breaking it into a million pieces. I fell to the ground in disappointment, avoiding Dedede's gaze and just looking at the crumbled vase slowly sliding off the shelf and falling one by one.  
The silence after the storm made me feel even more useless.  
"Well, it was your first time" - Dedede finally mused in an undecipherable tone. But I didn't dare stand up, until he appeared right above me with my slightly scratched scythe in his hands.  
"Now, it's fine. C'mon, we gotta talk to the woman who has already woken up from all this noise."  
He promptly walked out of the sitting room, leaving me alone with the taste of melancholy at the tip of my tongue, a scythe that had terrorised the room and a ruined relic.  
Once I saw the woman, I wasn't particularly shocked - she looked like any other old lady, sitting on a paisley-patterned armchair and looking out of the window in peace.  
She had no idea what was coming to her at that very moment, and that's what struck my silent heart the most.  
"D-Dedede?" - I whispered cautiously, even though I knew the woman couldn't hear me. It was the occasion that prompted me to lower my voice, as I eyed the tired eyes and fatigued hands of the elderly female.  
"Yeah, Esky?"  
"Are we going to...kill her?"  
Dedede didn't look at me in response and only shook his head. I felt like such a disappointment but I knew that it was common decency to not kill someone in the light of day when they weren't expecting it at all. Hell, this woman could survive an another ten years or so, I physically didn't feel able to take her away.  
"It'll go by fast--"  
"Boys?"  
Suddenly, we both stood in the doorway of the sitting room like stupid little troublemakers who were caught red-handed - the woman's eyes scanned our forms and she released as endearing smile. I had never seen a more honest person who was literally having a blind date with Death.  
"Oh, you should have said that you'll be coming! Give me two seconds at most, I shall prepare some tea--"  
Immediately, Dedede shot out from my side to the grandmother's armchair, stopping her from standing up. She didn't look frightened at all, but very determined to leave the room to make arrangements and welcome her guests in a good manner.  
"Good lady, there is no need."  
She nodded to herself and laid back on the chair, whilst I took a few steps towards the whole spectacle.  
"Well then, my boys, what are you here for?"  
It's as if he expected me to stand forward and bravely say 'yeah Miss, we're here to kill you. No hard feelings.' That's what I tried to say.  
"Um, M-Miss, me and my partner are here to...uh, how do I lightly put it...we want you to leave with us."  
After a minute of processing the nervous information, the elderly woman giggled at us both and I worriedly glanced at Dedede, who looked nothing short of annoyed.  
"Haha, you could have said! I'll just get my purse and then I can buy you an ice cream--"  
"We are here to take you to Heaven or Hell."  
That stopped the woman in her tracks and her grin immediately flipped, her face welcoming a stern frown.  
"So that's how it is."  
"Yes."  
The staring match between Dedede and her was so intense, I could feel the sparks crackling between their eyes like a charged surface. I felt too scared to say something, let alone prevent this from breaking into a boxing match. On the other hand, I was pretty sure that the lady would have won the boxing match in two minutes flat anyway. Dedede quickly began to cower away from the woman's gaze, his scythe materialising out of thin air in defence.  
"Either you agree to come willingly, or it is going to hurt much more than usual."  
"You can't do that!"  
I knew that those wrinkles and shaking limbs were a facade, but Nova, I was about to start weeping. I wasn't able to take her however much I tried bringing myself to.  
"I've never failed my job and it's not like you're going to become a permanent stain on my record. Escargon, back me up here."  
"No! I have kids, I have a family, how will they feel?!"  
Both desperate faces expectantly turned to me, awaiting my decision like it was the word of Nova. Unsurprisingly, I just stood there, feeling absolutely penetrated by the laser-like looks that those two people gave me, determined to be right in this situation. But I knew nothing. I was a simple human at heart, mind, soul, just like Dedede, and that sweet old grandmother. I didn't have an answer, but I chose to follow my heart.  
Thus I collapsed into total tears.  
"D-Dedede, this woman is not worthy of d-death yet! Her mercy, and goodness, surpasses all that I have known in this world... I never knew my grandmother."  
As if on cue, all outside sounds faded into nothingness and I continued to cry.  
"My family was n-never there for me. That is why I say we should not force this w-woman to abandon hers. I don't want anyone to suffer of my o-own hands."  
In a flash, Dedede was at my side, breathing into my ears and face, filling the atmosphere with his fresh scent.  
"Look, Escargon, this is your first training and...it is normal to see the good in everyone you meet--"  
I silenced him with a kiss. The only thing he would listen to, the only reasoning he could accept was my love. Nothing else was relevant to us both as we both kneeled on the floor, our lips in a true union. What Dedede wanted was not a raise or to get rid of half of the Earth's population - he desired love more than anything else, just like me. He wanted to take his anger out on people who were liked, loved, alive. Who were not hated, feared, who weren't Death.  
I finally pulled my lips away and looked deep into his eyes, trying to instil my mantra within his mind.  
"We won't take this lady, okay?"  
He quickly glanced at the funnily stressed out grandma, who was desperately bending over her armchair to observe our kiss. Her fingers were crossed and absolutely white from the pressure applied as she recited a prayer under her breath.  
She didn't want to leave.  
"Okay, she'll stay...under one condition."  
"What is it, Honey? Anything!"  
"...Just how handsome and beautiful are your children?"  
Feeling absolutely horrified, I forcibly punched Dedede's arm.  
"What?! I just wanted to ask whether I have competition when it comes to you..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas ya'll, hope you have a nice time and get loads of presents (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)


End file.
